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An approach to staging examinations that uses dramaturgical techniques to achieve fairness and prevent cheating has also been found to communicate important messages about the values of individualism and universalism and emphasize reward on the basis of equal competition. (MSE)

College student interpretation of the messages conveyed by the formal examination process are discussed. It is proposed that while students will most often interpret the spaces, props, equipment, and people involved in examinations as they were intended, sometimes the message is misinterpreted or challenged, making it dysfunctional. (MSE)

The suggestion that students at present day universities participate in magic at exam time may seem unusual. This study views 'magic' as behavior directed toward achieving an outcome, involving many everyday and commonplace acts, but seeming to rely for success on some mystical element. Hundreds of personal accounts from students describing their exam-related behaviors provide the basis for a classification system of their 'magical practices.' The classification yields findings regarding the use of magic for luck and the avoidance of bad luck. Student magic is found to be idiosyncratic, inconsistent, and never malevolent as it often is in preliterate societies. Such differences between preliterate magic, other modern forms, and student magic are related to the complexity and heterogeneity of the larger society, the cultural norms, and the degree of collective action involved.